Discovery of a new eye pattern in Araneoid spiders, with the description of two new species of Testudinaria from the Ecuadorian Amazon (Araneae: Araneidae)

Abstract

Summary. Two new species from the genus Testudinaria Taczanowski, 1879 are described: T. charapa n. sp. (♀♂) and T. derocheae n. sp. (♀) from the Amazonian region of Ecuador. The female and male of T. charapa n. sp. present a peculiar and unique eye arrangement, never observed in araneoid spiders, where the anterior median eyes and the posterior median eyes are situated on the sides of the carapace. Members of the genus Testudinaria are unlike any other Araneidae and are distinguished by three morphological characters, the absence of radix in male palp, the absence of flagelliform gland spigot on posterior lateral spinnerets in both males and females, and the absence of a sustentaculum. In situ and in captivity observations shows that members of the genus do not construct an orbicular web. Detailed morphology of the group as well as SEM of male and female spinnerets gland spigots are presented for the first time. Finally, the limit of the group Testudinarieae sensu Simon, 1895 is discussed.